Malaysia has always been the go-to place for Singaporeans if a short getaway is very much needed. When the long Hari Raya Puasa weekend arrived, Marilynn and I decided to whip out our explorer hat and explore Tebrau City, a suburb with the right mix of food and shopping. Here’s What to do in Tebrau City: Short Getaway in Malaysia.
Tebrau City
Tebrau City is a lesser known place and is an alternative to the crowded downtown Johor Bahru. It is about a 20 minutes drive away from the Causeway, so if you’re living in the northern or eastern of Singapore, Tebrau City might be a better choice to head to.
Breakfast at Tebrau City: The Toast
We were driving around the town when we spotted an eatery with the signboard, “The Toast”. Peeking inside reveled a similar ToastBox decor concept. A quick look around at the cars parked, and it seemed that this joint is a favorite among the locals. Most importantly, it is clean and has air-conditioning!
Looking at the menu, we ordered their best seller which was the Butter Kaya Toast and Nasi Lemak with an additional order of Egg Mayo sandwich. We were getting hungry looking at the pictures.
The Butter Kaya toast is no doubt their best. One bite into the crispy toast and the sweet savory Kaya melts in your mouth. It is that good. My only complaint is that there isn’t enough Kaya!
The Nasi Lemak tasted pretty average, I ate better ones in Singapore. The best part was the thick and fragrant coconut rice. Otherwise, the chicken meat felt a little hard. Try the other food on the menu if you are making a trip here.
Shopping at Tebrau City, Aeon Mall
After breakfast, it was time to head to Aeon Mall – the largest shopping center in Tebrau City. Almost twice the size of Vivo City. In here, you would find a good mix of branded shops such as L’occitane, Braun Buffet, Sephora and Uniqlo. There are also Daiso, Mini-so stores. Think JEM and West-Gate combined.
The main highlight is the grocery shopping that we came for. The supermarket is well-stocked and there were plenty of brands to choose from. Comparing prices with NTUC online, most of the household products were at least 33% cheaper. We bought toliet rolls, tissue papers, floor cleaners, shampoos, organic oats and many others.
Honorary Mention: Penang Road Teochew Chendol
If you are at Aeon Mall, do try the famous “Penang Road Teochew Chendol” on the 3rd floor! It used to be an independent eatery in Malaysia before it became a franchise model last year.
We bought their Chendol and it tasted so good! I could not imagine how would the original owner’s chendol taste be. Penang Chendol tasted different from Melaka Chendol. While the latter tends to favor thick gula melaka on top of the ice, Penang Chendol has a coffee taste added into the mix and is a more watery based. The mix was done right and having this dessert invigorates the shopping spirit to carry on.
For lunch, we tried their Prawn Noodles and Assam Laksa. Both tasted good and the broth was very flavourful. We also ordered a plate of rojak but the taste was not to our liking. It is slightly sour with hints of mango and the youtiao was served cold.
This place tends to be crowded throughout lunch time, so if you are in a group, you might need to split up and sit in different tables.
Tebrau City Massage
There are a couple of places for massage in Tebrau City. The prices here are slightly cheaper than Bukit Indah.
Tesco Mall Massage
We headed back to Tesco Mall after our shopping as we spotted them in the morning. The massage center is offering 40MYR for 1hour of foot massage and the nail salon offered classic manicure (30MYR) and classic pedicure (40MYR). Prices are definitely cheaper as compared to Singapore. However, both places were fully booked when we went there in the afternoon. So people, make a reservation before you head down.
Thai Spa World
We decided to explore outside of the mall in search of a reflexology center. After traveling for about 10 minutes, we found “Thai World Spa ” along the main road. From the outside, it looks a little shaddy but a quick Google and Facebook search hints of its “legit-ness”. Inside, we were surprised to find that the place was actually quite cozy. The counter staff greeted us and shared the price list. The prices were comparable to Tesco Mall’s Sabye Sabye. Both of us took up an hour of foot reflexology and were ushered into a private room with two sofa seats fit for kings.
The masseuse came in shortly and started to wash our feet with warm water. We began to settle into a relaxed state as they begun to work on us. We turned on the TV for a private screening of “RAW”. After working on our feet and thighs, they did some simple upper body massage which felt good afterwards.
Dinner at Tebrau City: Meng Meng Roasted Duck
When we drove towards our destination, the street was very quiet and deserted which gave us a slight doubt on its legitimacy. We read online that the roasted duck is one of the best and pictures showed a clean place restaurant. Our fears were cast aside when we approached the eatery. There were already locals tucking in to their dinner.
The place is well-kept and clean which gave us a favorable impression. The lady boss showed us the menu and recommended their 3-in-1 meat which consisted of Roast Pork, Char Siew and their best seller Imperial Duck. Dinner was served quickly and we were getting hungrier by the seconds while trying to snap photos of it.
The roast pork was absolutely amazing with the crispy skin and savory soft meat. The Char Siew tasted even better, crispy outer-layer with hints of over-burnt. In my opinion, the roast pork and char siew tasted even better than the imperial duck which they are famous for.
The lady boss told us they kept the food fresh by serving a limited portion 4 times a day. (10.30am, 12noon, 5pm and 7.30pm). If you are planning to head down here, plan your schedule and arrive when the roasted meats just came out of the kitchen. Prices are reasonable and we spent a total of 48MYR (Approx $15).
Afterword
Tebrau City would be a good alternative to Bukit Indah if you are looking for a short getaway in Malaysia. We hope by browsing in our blog, it might spark some ideas on what to do in Tebrau City. Do comment below if you have other interesting eateries in Tebrau. We love to hear from you!